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There is glory in being part of the resurrection of a dog-dead franchise in one excellent season – zero to 60 in 18 games.

There is glory in being the surprise team of the NFL, and in fighting your way to the NFC Championship Game.

There is glory in earning – the hard way – the reputation as the baddest men in pads. When was the last time you heard that said about a 49ers team?

And there is glory in fighting to the final play in overtime in the who-goes-to-the-Super Bowl game, before losing to the Giants 20-17.

The 49ers didn’t fade out, or get to the conference-title game and wilt under the spotlight. In baseball lingo, they didn’t get cheated out of their swings.

It still will take a long time for the glory to be seen and felt by the 49ers, especially the long-timers. After finally seeing the future, they had the door slammed in their faces. There’s no glory in being left out in the cold.

What feeling is there?

“Sucks,” said tackle Joe Staley, sitting in front of his locker minutes after the game.

For four seasons, Staley blocked himself silly, then answered a million questions about why the 49ers couldn’t win. This was Staley’s fifth season, and it was all different. He played just as hard as ever, but the results? More fun and excitement than Staley had ever experienced. His hard work suddenly was paying off. Then came Sunday.

“Sucks, man. Just sucks.”

Staley shook his head.

Is it harder to lose this new way than it was to lose the old way?

“This is the hardest loss of my career,” Staley said. “It sucks being this close to the Super Bowl … sucks.”

Frank Gore, he went through six seasons of frustration. This season, he had to fight for a new contract, fight through injuries and slumps. On Sunday, beat to a nub after 16 carries (74 yards), six pass receptions (45 yards) and about 1,000 crunching blocks, making big play after big play, running through and tunneling under tacklers, Gore was silent in the minutes after the game.

Later, Gore said, “It was a great year. I just wish we could’ve gone to the big game, especially with all the hard work and all the tough times we’ve had.”

Patrick Willis, the fifth-year inside linebacker, had eight tackles. He seemed to rev it up in overtime, with vicious hits and a sack of Eli Manning.

Other defenders – including Justin Smith and Aldon Smith – emerged this season to join the hit parade, but Willis is the man who sets the tone.

“You’re in disbelief,” Willis said. “It’s like when something happens and you can’t believe it really happened. It’s one of those things that really hurts right now. It will hurt even more tomorrow and the day after. Right now it’s just disbelief. That’s about it.”

This is Ahmad Brooks’ sixth NFL season and his fourth with the 49ers, so he has seen the dog days, too. That didn’t ease the pain Sunday.

Is this a harder way to end a season than the old way, which was simply to fade away?

“Yeah, man, it’s more disappointing,” Brooks said. “One game away from the Super Bowl. It just hurts that much more, more than when you go 8-8. You’re not gonna get that ring. … It was a great season. A lot of doubters not expecting us to get that far. We proved ‘em wrong. We proved to ourselves we can be a top team.”

Brooks almost started going down the road of finding that silver lining. Then the game he’d left minutes earlier jumped back into his throat.

“I had a few bad plays,” Brooks said quietly. “That’s really gonna dawn on me the next couple of months.”

For the Giants, there was not even one bad play Sunday, not a single moment they will regret. All the Giants’ mistakes, every individual and team breakdown, were washed away by the “W.”

The 49ers, instead of spending the next two weeks reveling in the big plays they made Sunday, will sift through the detritus of a few mistakes and misplays.

That’s a tough way to go out.

The rookies and younger players, they’ll look ahead, because they’ll believe this team is so good that it will be right back on top next season.

The older players know better. They know how much it takes to get here, and how precious this chance was, so they hurt more.